Parenting 101 with Oliver and Felicity
by FreakingOutGirl
Summary: A collection of drabbles of our vigilante and IT-girl in the complex world of parenthood. Fighting crime is easy when compared to crying babies or the fear of seeing them hurt, but in the end, they are still Oliver and Felicity and they are an unbeatable team. (This one was started before that storyline on the show about Oliver's kid, so, just Olicity babies in this one)
1. For her

For her

Felicity could feel the eyes of everyone observing her. It was very unnerving, especially while she was walking in high heels and a long dress, two death traps that could make her fall any moment now.

She knew what the plan was, but it didn't make her feel any better. She just hoped Oliver wouldn't be all that mad when he wakes in his hospital bed to find a moody nurse taking care of him, instead of her.

She didn't belong here, in the middle of the Russian elite, but if there was one thing she learned from all those years as Oliver's partner was that there was a only a tiny amount of things she couldn't do when rightly pressured. And walking into a party for the Russian elite was definitely not one of them.

Everything had been good and easy until the accident.

It shouldn't be like this. At first there was not even a mission, they were only in Russia to visit QC's branch and nothing more…

_Then, how did they found themselves in something like this once again?_

They had landed in Russia twenty-four hours ago, ready to meet with some businessmen and keep tabs on the work, however, after Anatoly knew about their visit, they were almost obliged to come to one of his parties. Oliver wanted to bail, but when they found out who was going to be there, their plans changed suddenly. In a minute a normal business trip turned into a mission to take down the master mind behind the human traffic of young girls that lately grassed Starling City. Apparently, the Russians were eager to have some American girls in their land. They had searched the man for a long time, unable to track his whereabouts, at least quick enough to get him before he flew, however, when they discovered he was going to be in this party the plan was created.

For all that, it should be Oliver in here with her, if a crazy man hadn't crashed against their car, sending him to the hospital.

"Are you okay?" she heard Diggle asking through the coms and she whispered a yes. "Don't forget, you have to find Dimitrov and put the tracker on him, nothing else…" Dig said and Felicity rolled her eyes, like she would forget her own plan.

They had to come up with a different plan after Oliver's accident. At first, he would walk into the party, as one of the guests of Anatoly, be polite and charming, while Felicity walked hanging in his arm and Diggle waited with the rest of the Russian elite's security men. But now, she was the one that had to walk and be the perfect little woman of Oliver Queen, without Oliver Queen.

"Oh, Felicity!" she heard a voice calling and turned around to see Anatoly walking towards her. She smiled at the man. Even if he was a mafia boss, she still really liked him, with his quick talk and protectiveness of Oliver.

"And where is my friend?" he asked after their normal greetings.

Felicity thanked Oliver's lessons and quickly explained her situation in an almost perfect Russian.

"In the hospital…" she replied simply and saw the man eye her with surprise. "A madman crashed against our car… Oliver broke his arm and had to be taken to surgery to take care of that…" Felicity replied.

It had been incredible difficult to let him in that hospital bed. She had waited for the surgery to end to see him, sleeping with a peaceful expression on his face, and only then she had left to complete the mission. _He would be so angry! _But it was their only way to reach the man and damn be her if she let him kidnap and hurt any more girls. He was almost a ghost, and these kind of parties were the only way to find him and where he hide during his businesses in Russia. They were lucky enough to be there at the same time as him.

"I hope he is alright…" Anatoly said and Felicity smiled back.

"Yes, he is, but since you were expecting us, he made me come. He didn't want me to lose the fun of a Russian party…"

"Easy there, don't say too much…" Diggle advised and Felicity's expression froze.

"Well, I never thought Oliver would let you by yourself in the middle of us…" Anatoly said, and Felicity tried to come up with a better story.

"Actually, he didn't…" she whispered, like it was a secret. "He was out cold… and I sneaked out… I wanted to see how it would be… but I didn't thought you would like to know one of your Captains was outsmarted by a woman…" Felicity said, trying to regain the control of the situation.

"Oh, women… they make us think we are in control and then take the rug from under our feet…you are the evolved race, I assure you!" he said, laughing loudly. And then he sobered quickly. "But I know you are not the dumb woman you are trying to portray. If you are here I bet you have something to do, and I advise you to be quick about that, I can't be with you always, and even if Oliver is a captain, there are only a handful of Bratva men here, and we might not be able to be as quick as we would like to." Anatoly said in a rushed whisper, and Felicity knew she had to be quick.

"Thank you. I will follow your advice." Felicity replied, her hand touching his arm softly.

She stepped back and directed her attention to the rest of the party, searching for her target.

"Mr. Dimitrov!" Anatoly said suddenly and Felicity couldn't stop the thought he knew from the beginning what she was really doing in this party.

"Let me present you, Mrs. Queen, one of my closest friends' wife." Anatoly said and Felicity had to stop herself from correcting him.

Dimitrov nodded his head and they traded polite greetings. Using the passage of a man walking with drinks, she stepped closer to Dimitrov, barely touching his arm, but close enough to plant a bug inside his pocket.

After that it would be easy for Diggle to follow him and put the fear of god into him, right before making sure he would be arrested for his crimes.

When Felicity and Diggle finally ended their mission and where ready to get back to the hospital, for the first time that night she checked her phone, but before being able of really eyeing the screen, it started ringing. Sara's face appearing in her phone.

"Hi, Sara!" Felicity greeted happily, after putting her phone on speaker.

"Where in the hell are you and Dig?" Sara asked harshly.

"Oops." Felicity whispered and she heard the other woman sighing."Did he call?"

"Yes, 22 times, after calling you 225 if I remember the numbers correctly." Sara replied in a harsh tone and Felicity noticed that the number was indeed correct, on the back of her screen. "What the hell were you thinking? It was dangerous!"

"Do you know what they say about the kettle and the pot?" Felicity answered with a sigh. Sara was the last person that could really give her a speech about dangerous behavior.

"Cut the crap, Queen!" Sara said.

"Smoak-Queen!" Felicity replied and she heard the other woman sigh.

"Well, since you pulled such an Oliver stunt you are all Queen tonight… Let me be the Smoak part today, okay?" Sara said and Felicity smiled at her friend's words.

"He was kidnapping young girls…I couldn't let him get away with it…" Felicity whispered and the silence on the other side told her Sara understood where she was coming from.

"Emilia is safe… She is sleeping right in front of me, being all cute like her mother…" Sara said and Felicity felt her heart tug inside her chest.

"And Thomas?" she asked and Sara's tired sigh told her all that was to be told.

"That bad, hum?"

"I took him to Verdant…" Sara started and Felicity cut her with a shocked "What?"

"Calm down, it was in the middle of the day, no crazy teens jumping around or loud music… I had a meeting with Thea and I didn't want to leave the kids with my dad or Laurel, they are having too much work already, so I took them with me, I have to enjoy the time with my goddaughter, you know? But let's say that by the end, Roy was definitely needing a shrink…"

"Did you give him popcorn?" Felicity asked and Sara's silence was answer enough.

"He gave me those eyes!" she tried to defend herself and Felicity laughed. "But now he is crashing on the sofa, hopefully for a few more hours… and Emilia is being an angel, like always…"

"I can't imagine the pain a parent goes through when something happens to their kid…" Felicity said, sobering.

"I know why you did it, and I would have done the same thing… But, please, you have to take care of yourself a bit more. You have two kids and a husband that would die if something happens to you!" Sara begged and Felicity looked at Diggle. He was wearing the same stoic expression she had, but she could see how the words impacted on him.

"We are going back… Dig did all the dangerous work…" Felicity said and smiled at her best friend that winked in reply. They were not brother and sister by blood, but they sure were by any other means.

"Tell him I'm mad at him as well!" Sara said, with a lighter tone.

"She showed me those eyes as well…" Dig replied and the woman beside him rolled the said eyes.

"Don't forget that Thomas likes the chocolate milk and Emilia the orange juice! Oh, and when they are eating put Lilo and Stitch on, it will be easier for you to control the damage… and kiss them for me, okay?" Felicity asked.

"See you tomorrow…" Sara said.

"Ready to face the lion?" Dig asked and Felicity bumped her fist in his shoulder.

"Let's do this!"

In the end it took only four words from Felicity for Oliver's anger disintegrate.

"It was for Emilia…"


	2. Being there

_**Being there**_

* * *

Felicity was waiting beside the big, black car. Her pristine blue dress and black heels contrasted with the nervous shuffling of her feet.

When, at the distance, she heard the bell's sound, she observed the myriad of heads leaving the school grounds. She was looking for a very specific dark blonde head, taller than the rest of the kids, thanks to her father's genes.

And finally, she noticed the girl's ponytail. She was walking with her head down, while, beside her, a boy whispered quickly with a smirk.

She noticed through her posture that the girl knew it was her mother and not her father coming to pick her up.

Emilia was a daddy's girl through and through. Felicity couldn't suppress a smile every time she remembered Oliver kneeling beside the eight-year-old girl and trying to understand what she meant with all those pieces of computer laying around. For all his impatience with Roy, Oliver was a saint to his kids, bless his daddy heart.

"Hey, honey!" Felicity greeted, when the girl reached her. She hugged her mother warmly, and then, looking around, like she was still waiting for her father to pop out and yell "surprise!", she asked.

"Why isn't daddy here? He said he would come…" Emilia said, with a sad tone that broke Felicity's heart.

"I'm sorry, sweety, but daddy was in a very important meeting and they wouldn't let him get out… He asked me to tell you he is very sorry and he will make it up to you!" Felicity said, while helping her daughter into the car.

The girl nodded, but still, that same downcast expression remained.

"What was that boy telling you?" Felicity asked, suddenly, remembering the boy's cold smirk.

"Nothing…" Emilia replied, playing with the hem of her shirt.

Felicity's eyes squinted at her daughter's movement. It was a tell-tale of a lie and she knew it all too well.

"Emilia Deardeen Smoak-Queen, what did I tell you about lying?" Felicity asked, grabbing the girl's hand and squeezing it affectionately.

"Not to…" the girl replied, with a sigh. "Marc Harris was saying his daddy says that daddy only cares about his job… and he doesn't worry about us…" Emilia confessed, crossing her arms defiantly in front of her chest. "I know he loves us very much and I wanted to rub it in his face, but then daddy didn't show up and he was all smug…" Emilia said and for a moment Felicity felt immense proud in her daughter's vocabulary and trust in Oliver.

"Do you know what day it is tomorrow?" Emilia asked.

Felicity tried to remember if any of Emilia's pets' birthday was coming, but was sure her three dogs and two cats' anniversaries were not tomorrow, since the young girl made sure her mother had it color highlighted in her tablet's calendar.

"It's Career Day!" Felicity said, remembering suddenly why she had choose a special outfit for her husband the previous night.

"Yes, and Marc says daddy is going to miss it…" Emilia replied and Felicity traded a look with her friend in the front seat.

"Where does that Harris kid live?" Dig asked and Emilia looked at him with a small smile.

"You can't beat him, Uncle John…" Emilia said and Felicity rolled her eyes, trust Dig to try and frighten a nine year old boy when he made his favorite niece sad.

"But I will make sure your daddy won't miss your career day, even if I have to kidnap him from a meeting!" Dig said with an open smile and for the first time since she left school, Emilia really smiled.

"So, what if we go and buy some ice-cream and bring some to daddy and Thomas?" Felicity proposed and her daughter turned her brilliant smile to her and nodded happily.

"Where is Thomas?" Emilia suddenly asked, noticing that her brother was absent.

"Field trip… he is getting home later…" Felicity explained and she noticed her daughter's expression of mirth. "No, you won't try and sneak into his room to take his games!" she advised and had to stop a smug smile when she saw her daughter huffing.

* * *

Oliver was sitting at his desk when the tap-tap of heels and the splatter of children feet echoed inside the house. He looked up and rose to greet his running daughter.

"Hey princess!" Oliver said, hugging his daughter against his chest. "I'm sorry I couldn't go and get you. I really tried, but those old guys really stopped all my tries of running away…"

"Hey daddy! Don't worry, mommy explained and I know your job is important to a lot of people…" she said, all her previous sadness forgotten or well hidden. "We got you mint ice-cream!" Emilia said, pointing towards her mother's arm where a hanging bag could be spotted.

Felicity waited for her daughter to fully greet her father, telling him about her science project and her class of Russian (where she was excelling), before sending her to her room to start on her homework.

"Hey…" Oliver whispered, when his wife was close enough. He let his nose fall against her neck and trail a path until her lips, where he proceeded to plant his own mouth and kiss her slowly.

"Oliver…" Felicity whispered, her forehead resting against his. "We need to talk…" she said and Oliver backed away, his eyes alert and his posture a mile away from his previous demeanor. "There is no danger, that's not that…" Felicity said, letting her hands stroke his chest.

Oliver relaxed a little bit and took her hands, pulling her after him towards the desk. He sat in his chair and pulled her to sit in his lap.

"Explain…" he asked and Felicity told him about what happened with Emilia.

"I just want to make sure you know how important this is to her… I know you do all you can for the kids, you are the best dad I met, but…" Felicity said and Oliver nodded.

"But you couldn't not say anything… I understand… Now, about that Harris kid… do you know where he lives?" Oliver asked and Felicity laughed.

"Not you too! Do I have to call Emilia and ask her to give you the puppy Smoak eyes just like she did with Dig? You can't threaten a kid!"

"Oh no, I would talk with his parents and teach them that their kid can't go around making my girl sad!" Oliver replied in a low growl and Felicity shook her head with mirth.

"I think the best thing you can do to help her is showing up tomorrow, and presenting to those kids the pristine and very professional CEO of QC…" Felicity whispered and Oliver growled, his nose running through her jaw line and his lips barely touching her skin.

Felicity felt her husband's hand wandering around her dress, pulling the cloth up her legs when suddenly a loud scream of horror echoed from behind them.

"My eyes! I'm blind! There are kids in this house!" whined the teenaged boy with his hands covering his eyes.

"Thomas! You arrived earlier!" Felicity exclaimed, jumping from her husband's lap and trying to smooth her dress.

"I think I arrived too late, actually… No kid should see their parents in that… position… ugh, what did I say?! It's even worse thinking about it now!" the boy was shaking his head pitifully. His dark blond hair covered part of his forehead in an unruly mix of his father and mother.

Oliver chuckled out loud and Thomas scoffed at him.

"Very mature, dad…" he said, but even his lips were trembling with suppressed mirth.

"How was the trip?" Felicity asked, trying to comb his hair just for the boy to step back and undo what she did.

"Excellent! We visited this shooting range! My PE teacher said I had a really good aim with a bow, even the instructors were kind of awed… If I wasn't so young, they would probably think I'm the Green Arrow… or Arsenal, since he is a bit smaller…" Thomas said, with a glint of excitement in his eyes.

Felicity traded a meaningful look with Oliver and saw the doubts in his eyes. None of their kids knew about their team and they wanted to keep it that way, until they were old enough to understand what really meant for their father to go out without the assurance of coming back.

"Where is Ems?" Thomas asked, looking around, noticing his sister's absence.

"Upstairs, hopefully finishing her homework and not that robot she has been playing with…" Oliver said and he saw Thomas' eyes shine. He knew all too well the love of his two kids for everything technological related.

"Go on… you can help her with whatever she is doing… but I want her homework and yours, as well, done, mister!" Felicity said with strict tone and Thomas smiled at her, nodding, before running away.

"Do you really think we could have a third?" Oliver asked and Felicity laughed.

* * *

When Oliver arrived at Queen Consolidated, next day, the first thing he did was make sure his EA didn't scheduled any meeting to that day, making it clear that not even a nuclear war could keep him away from his daughter's school.

Emilia's professor was waiting for Oliver outside the classroom, other parents mingling around and talking about their kids.

"Mr. Queen, is a pleasure to meet you…" the woman said in a very formal tone, while shaking his hand. Oliver wondered if it was his own memories of school or if all the teachers had that way of making you feel like a kid when you meet one, even if you are already a parent yourself.

When he entered the classroom, he immediately spotted his daughter's eager face and her excited waving hand almost punched a boy beside her that scowled at her. He knew who he was, that Harris brat! Even if Felicity didn't give him his address he was still able of entering the school's page and find the kid.

"This is Mr. Queen, he is the CEO of Queen Consolidated, one of the biggest companies in the US and the biggest in Starling City. He will explain to you what it takes to be a business man…" the teacher said and Oliver stepped forward.

He coughed softly and then started talking with a strong and deep voice.

"Being a business man is not easy… Sometimes it takes you away from your family, sometimes it takes you away from a well slept night… but what we do, it helps people having a better life, you can help a science or health division develop a medicine to save lives, you give jobs to a lot of people, you help a city reborn from decay… But it's very important that you understand that team work is the key to have a good result. You can't do it all by yourself. You have to rely on people, you have to trust them, so you can discuss your ideas and be truthful to each other. You are not an island, you are a team." Oliver said, his words ringing much deeper than the children could understand. He was not talking only about being a CEO, he was talking about his other life, the other half that made him complete.

He eyed Emilia and she was smiling so big Oliver felt like his pride would make him implode. He saw her whispering furiously to that Harris kid and how he looked mad about that, while she smiled smugly.

* * *

"Hey, what were you saying to that kid?" Oliver asked, when he picked Emilia from school that afternoon.

"That he was a scoundrel and my daddy just showed him how it was!" Emilia said with her head held high.

"_A scoundrel?_" Oliver repeated, amused. _Where in the hell did that kid learned that word?_

"Yes, I heard mommy saying that while watching Harry Potter and it was not about a good guy…" Emilia said, her small face with a very serious expression.

Oliver had to stop his chuckle, but Dig wasn't that quick and Emilia scoffed at him.

"You can laugh, Uncle Dig, but Marc is really a scoundrel…" Emilia replied with a final tone.

No one could discuss his daughter's reasoning and Oliver wouldn't be dumb enough to try and get into a complex conversation with an eight year old about the use of words in an everyday environment. He should let that to professionals, also known as Felicity Smoak-Queen. So he settled for a kiss on her soft hair, while the girl spooned against his side.

"You are the best, you know, daddy?" she said, eyeing him with limpid blue eyes.

Oliver felt his heart constrict inside his chest with the trust in her words. He thought about talking with the kid, but luckily he didn't. His daughter was strong enough to fight her own fights and he couldn't be prouder of her.

"Thank you, princess! I will always do everything I can for you!" Oliver replied, a fire behind his words that no one could quench.

"I know…" Emilia nodded, her head falling against his chest, her ear right beside his heart. The beat lulled her to sleep in the short ride, while Oliver observed her with inextinguishable love in his eyes.


	3. The Mistakes of Parents

**Moira is alive in this one, because I thought of this scene before "Seeing Red".**

* * *

**The mistakes of parents**

* * *

Moira Queen was a very assertive woman. No matter what room she entered, she could win the attention of everyone, and guide them like a shepherd. It was not only her poise, but the way she used words to create a path for people to follow her. However, this time, she waited to enter that specific room, imagining the kind of reception she would receive.

She saw Oliver leaving the place a minute ago, his phone tucked against his ear. So, she used the opportunity to enter the room without anyone stopping her.

Inside, Moira found a blonde woman with a bundle inside her arms, cooing softly at it. She could see the loving eyes of the woman behind her glasses and her soft smile when the baby touched her face with his tiny fist.

"Oliver, you were qui…" Felicity started saying, but when her eyes found Moira she cut herself abruptly.

"Mrs. Queen…" Felicity said, surprised. "What…?"

"I'm not here to do any harm…" Moira said, showing the palms of her hands in a pacifying gesture. "I heard that you had the baby and I wanted to congratulate you and Oliver…" Moira said and Felicity noticed the way her voice was caught in her throat.

"Thank you…" Felicity replied. "Do you want to see him?" she asked and noticed Moira's eager expression quickly hidden by a mask of coolness.

"I would love to…" she said, before approaching the bed, where mother and son were resting.

Felicity untucked the baby's blanket and Moira gasped at the beautiful blue eyes observing her back.

"Say hi, Tommy!" Felicity said, grabbing the baby's fist and waving it.

"He is perfect…" Moira whispered, her hand slowly approaching the baby to softly caress his cheek. "You did a good job…"

"I think so myself, thank you!" Felicity retorted with a big proud smile.

The two women eyed each other, smiling for the first time in years.

After their conversation about Thea's birth, they didn't have much contact until the news of Oliver and Felicity's engagement entered the magazines' first pages all over Starling City. Moira was in their wedding, with Walter, supporting, but not really part of that. Her relationship with Oliver was hard, especially after all the Slade Wilson's problems and the consequences of Thea's kidnap that, for a long time, Oliver blamed not only on himself but on his mother as well, making their relationship even colder than it was before. With the years their relationship turned bearable, but it would never be the mother-son connection they once had.

Felicity knew Oliver cared for his mother, that even when he tried to put up a mask of emotionlessness, she could still see the way his eyes turned far away, like he was remembering a past life, where he was still a boy and she was still mom.

"I'm sorry…" Moira said, suddenly, catching Felicity by surprise.

"About what?"

"What I said that night… about Oliver hating you… obviously it wasn't true, but it was cruel nonetheless… I wanted to stop you… I thought I could make you doubt him… I thought you were just another foolish girl, kissing the floor my son stepped on… I was so mistaken… I talked about the way you looked at him, when I should have seen the way he looked at you… If I had noticed it, I would have known that it would be foolish of me to try and scare you like that…" Moira said, looking intensively at Felicity.

Felicity sighed. She didn't want to share just how hurt she was after that conversation, how she fought with herself about what decision to make, how she doubted herself… Oliver knew and it was all that mattered right now…

"Mrs. Queen, what you did hurt a lot of people… if you had told the truth a lot of things might not have happened, but we never know what our decisions will bring us… I believe you tried to protect your children and now that I have one of my own, I can understand what drove you… but I learned something from your mistakes as well… lies… they are never black and white, they have repercussions not only in our lives, but in the ones' we love, as well… And even if I know it will be impossible to always tell the truth to my son, I will do my best to make sure the lies I have to tell won't make him hate me if he ever finds out…" Felicity said, her eyes observing the now sleeping newborn in her arms.

"I wish I had made that decision years ago… but my secrets were not light ones… I don't know how I could have acted differently and have a happy result…" Moira sighed, biting her lower lip.

"That's the problem of the past… we can't change it, no matter how hard we try…" Felicity replied.

The door behind Moira opened suddenly and Oliver entered. He stopped in his tracks, seeing his mother in the room.

"What are you doing here?" he asked and Felicity admonished him with her eyes. He noticed her expression and rubbed his fingers against each other, trying to calm himself down.

"I was informed my grandson was born and I wanted to congratulate both of you…" Moira said stoically, her frame rigid under the scrutiny of her son.

"Thank you…" Oliver replied, walking around her to sit beside Felicity. His hand shot to stroke softly his son's hair and Moira smiled fondly at the gesture.

"You will be a great parent, Oliver… Both of you, actually…" Moira said and the couple in front of her looked up, surprised at her words.

Moira shuffled her feet nervously, in a very un-Moira fashion, and turning around, headed toward the door.

"Mrs. Queen?" Felicity called and the woman stopped and looked back.

"Maybe when we are at home, you can come and play with Thomas for a bit…" Felicity proposed. Beside her, Oliver moved uncomfortably.

Moira looked at her son, noticing his demeanor.

"I don't think it's a good idea… but thank you…" Moira said, turning around.

"You can come… if you want…" a male voice said and Moira turned to see her son eyeing her.

"It's time we should talk…" Oliver said and Moira nodded.

The Queen matriarch smiled softly and turned around once again. She opened the door and left silently, leaving the family of three behind.

"You are a good woman, Felicity Megan Smoak-Queen…" Oliver whispered, nuzzling her neck.

"No, I'm a mother… and I don't want to deprive my son from meeting his grandmother… she is the only grandparent he has left…" Felicity said and Oliver nodded sadly.

"Even if she threatened you? Or kept dangerous secrets?" Oliver asked.

"Well, we can't talk much about secrets, right?" Felicity replied with a smile and Oliver had to give in; she was right, in matter of secrets they had the biggest one in town.

"Maybe things will be better from now on…" Felicity said.

Oliver shook his head, with a smile.

"They already are…"

And he closed the distance between them to kiss her softly on the lips.


	4. Please, not him!

_**Please, not him!**_

* * *

Oliver was sitting at the conference table in Queen Consolidated, hearing a future partner exposing the next project of his company. The man was a good speaker, talking clearly and excitedly about a new program of reduction of CO2 that could help minimize some of the problems Oliver's environmental department was faced with.

The light was down, but even in the semi-obscurity, he would always recognize the frame of the person that just left the elevator and was approaching the room, running in her high heels.

Felicity opened the conference door at the same time Oliver jumped from his seat. The silence fell over the room, while the CEO of QC ran toward the newcomer.

"Felicity, what happened?" he asked, grabbing her arms. She was shaking and he felt his throat constrict, noticing the fear running through her body.

"Tommy's school called… he is in the hospital… they said something about a roof and a fall… they wouldn't explain anything else, Oliver!" Felicity said, panic seizing her voice.

Oliver felt like the room had no air. His mind traveled to a different time, to a different Tommy… to a dying Tommy…

_No, he couldn't lose anyone else!_

Felicity noticed his body's tension and breathed deeply. She grabbed his biceps and grounded him, helping him return to the present.

"Oliver…" she whispered and her voice, working like a charm, put Oliver into a whirl of motion.

Without sparing a second look towards his business partners, he yelled an order to his EA to take care of everything and to reschedule the meeting. If Felicity was in another frame of mind, she would berate him for running away from a meeting, but in that moment, nothing could pass through her mind except the image of a young blue-eyed boy, crying in pain…

Diggle was ready inside the car and Felicity had barely had time to close the door when Oliver was already yelling for their friend to speed up.

Felicity couldn't stand still, moving her leg in a rhythmic motion or chewing her nails, until Oliver grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingers. She looked up, at his face, and saw his worried eyes facing forward. She noticed his wrinkled forehead and the way his jaw tensed every few seconds. She wanted to say something, to ask what was going through his mind, but before she had the time, the hospital appeared in front of them and her heart started beating a million beats an hour.

Oliver opened the door and, grabbing her hand, they ran towards the emergency doors.

Tommy's English teacher was sitting in the waiting room and suddenly jumped to his feet, noticing the rampaging couple coming his way.

"Mr. Queen… Mrs. Smoak-Queen…" the man said, but Oliver was having none of those pleasantries.

"Where is Thomas? What happened?" he growled and the man stepped back. Felicity grabbed his biceps and squeezed it, grounding him.

"He is under observation… They don't let anyone in…" the man said and Oliver scoffed.

"I'm his father! They have to let me in!" he said and looking around, searched for someone he could put the fear of God into and demand to see his son.

Noticing a passing young nurse, he walked quickly toward her, cutting her path and making her stop abruptly.

"I'm Oliver Queen. My son was brought here, I want to know where he is!" Oliver demanded, with Felicity by his side almost crushing his fingers inside her hand.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where your son is, but you can ask in there…" she said, pointing a reception desk with a man writing in a computer.

"We need to know where Thomas Queen is!" Felicity said, while still running towards the desk and making the man jump with the sudden appearance of the blonde woman.

"Hum… sure… let me…" he said, typing, while Felicity chewed her tongue, keeping herself from ripping the computer from the man and search it herself.

"He is in the observation room… number 2, but you have to wait… the doctor will be here shortly. But for what I can see it was nothing life-threatening…" the man said and the growl that reached his ears made him jump once again.

"That's my son you are talking about!" Oliver roared and Felicity had to drag him away from the frightened man.

Nonetheless, knowing his son was in no immediate danger, helped Oliver calm down enough to hear the teacher's story.

"I don't know how, but Thomas was able of opening the roof's door… I think they were playing some kind of tag game and when one of the other kids tried to grab him he ran and lost his balance… he fell over a tree and then from there to the floor… he was clutching his arm and we thought it might be broken…" the man said and Oliver pinched his nose.

"Shouldn't those doors be safer? If an eight year old can open it that easily…" Oliver said with a barely concealed threat.

"Yes, but all of us know Thomas is not any eight year old kid…" the teacher said and Felicity felt rage rise inside her.

"Well, if you are saying that just because he is able of building a computer from scratch and understands the economics of this country better than a lot of politics I know, you are wrong!" Felicity replied, and the man had the humbleness of looking ashamed.

It was not flash news to Oliver and Felicity how the intelligence of their son could make him choose less than stellar activities, like blowing up the electric controls of the football field and make the water start pouring right in the middle of the hour of the soccer training Thomas and his friends were kept from attending because of some older students' decision that they should have the field. Enough said that Oliver was called to hear a very angry principal and the parents of said students. In the end, Oliver just remarked how an eight-year old was able to bring fifteen years old to their knees and walked out with a warning to those parents about how they were educating their kids, regarding the respect for others. That night, instead of a punishment, Oliver talked with his son about respect and honor and noticed with pride how different his son was, from the brat Oliver used to be with his age. He blamed it on Felicity.

When they finally were allowed to see their son, they found Thomas in a hospital bed, a cast around his left arm and a sour expression over his face.

"Tommy!" Felicity called, running to her son's side and squishing him against her chest.

"Mom… can't breathe… and broken arm…" he said, while Felicity stepped back, keeping her hands around his shoulders, stroking his neck with her thumb.

"Thomas…" Oliver said, sighing. "You scared us, buddy…"

"I'm sorry…" Thomas said, eyeing his parents. "I was running and then I think I stepped over a puddle and before I could react I was already falling… at least there was a tree… I knew all that recycling would help someday… Mother nature always pays its debts…" Tommy said.

Felicity chuckled and Oliver smiled fondly at his son. If he was making jokes, he was feeling alright and more than anything that was what helped them finally calm down.

"Thomas, please, just be careful, okay?" Felicity asked, eyeing the cast with worry permeating her face.

Oliver was observing the scene, his frame against the room wall, while Felicity chatted with their son. He could remember his mother's words, from all those years ago _"From the moment your children are born, you worry what the world might do to them."_

In that moment, when Felicity entered the conference room and said those words about his son, he felt like the world was coming down on him, like he was pushed into a tunnel where he could barely fit, where he could barely breathe.

Tommy Merlyn and Tommy Queen's face fused into each other, and Oliver saw himself in front of his son's bleeding body.

His best friend was beside him, clutching his shoulder, and, this time, the one dying was his son.

"Right, dad?" Thomas' voice echoed through Oliver's thoughts and he looked up to see two identical expectant faces.

"Sorry, what?"

"I was saying I can check out free falling from my list of cool things to do and mom said she once jumped off a plane and I just can't believe that…" Thomas said, while Felicity's eyes observed Oliver's tight smile.

"Actually, that is true… I was there to watch her puke afterwards…" Diggle said from the door and Tommy yelled happily at him.

"Uncle Dig! Seriously? Mom jumping off a plane?" he started chattering with John, giving Felicity the time to approach Oliver.

She stopped beside him, her hand sliding from his arm towards his finger, interlocking them.

"Hey…" she said softly, while Tommy showed with his right hand the route of his fall to his godfather.

"Hey…" Oliver whispered back, pulling her against his body, his arm surrounding her back to rest on her hip.

"Don't think about that, Oliver…" Felicity whispered and her husband looked back, at her, surprised.

"You have that look… of when you are thinking about Tommy… about what happened to him…" Felicity said and Oliver sighed.

"When you entered and said something happened I got so scared… I can't imagine what losing Thomas would do to me… I can't understand how a parent can go on when their child is no longer there…" Oliver said, massaging his chest, like there was a hole inside.

"Because parents are strong, they have to be strong for their children, they have to be strong for their partners, and they have to be strong for the rest of the family and their friends… Parents, **_the good ones_**, are remarkable… they wake up every day not knowing if their reason to live will be okay when they are apart… and they have to live with that fear, they have to realize they can't be controlled by that…" Felicity said, but Oliver could feel the shivers running through her body. She had that same doubt, even if she tried to be strong for him, and in that moment, Oliver realized that the support of someone you love would be the only thing to help a grieving parent, even if that support came from the memory of the love your child had for you.

Oliver wondered how much his mother had to support, losing both her husband and son, having to explain to a small girl what it meant to die, to never see the people she loved the most again…

And Oliver pulled Felicity more forcefully against his body, like he wanted to fuse her with his body and approached Thomas' bed to grab his neck and kiss his forehead.

"Dad?" he asked, noticing his father's strange glistening eyes.

"I love you, Thomas!" Oliver said.

For the first time in his life, Thomas was seeing his father on the verge of tears.


	5. Parental Feelings

_**Parental feelings**_

* * *

"Do you want to have kids?"

"What?" Oliver spurted his drink at Felicity's sudden question.

He looked at her, surprised, with her words. They were watching Thea talk with investors to her club, dancing rather than walking, between businessmen and businesswomen alike, like they were nothing more than the normal passerby. Felicity mused that for the young Queen, they were probably just that.

"Did you ever thought about having kids?" she asked once again and Oliver was sure he probably lost a big part of the conversation if that was the question Felicity was really asking.

"What brought that up? Weren't we talking about the new design of Applied Science's energy generator?" Oliver replied, cleaning the spilled drink from his tux.

Felicity grabbed a napkin and proceeded to clean any spot she could see in the black material. She could feel the suspenders under the jacket and had to suppress the sudden desire of ripping the jacket open and drool over Oliver in suspenders. _What could she say, he looked even hotter in those damn things!_

"The way you were watching Thea… you looked like a proud dad…" Felicity said, smoothing his lapels and turning to observe the people in front of her.

"Oh…" Oliver replied, poorly, still a bit struck by her words.

"Why? Did you think I was asking you if you wanted to have kids with me?" Felicity asked, chuckling at the mere thought of Oliver wondering something like that.

When he didn't answer her question, Felicity turned around to see her boss observing the mob in front of him with a _bit too much attention_.

"You really thought I was asking that!" Felicity replied in a higher tone than she wanted, gaining the attention of some passerby.

"I mean… you really did" she continued in an almost-whisper. "Wow! Not that I think you wouldn't want to have kids with me, I mean, I would love to have kids with you, well, not with you you, but someone you… you know? Like, you and I having kids but not with each other, unless you want, then I don't have any problem in you being, well, you!" Felicity rambled, until Oliver grabbed her shoulders and squeezed.

"Breathe! You are turning blue!" he joked and Felicity laughed nervously.

However, there was a under tension weighing on their demeanor. Their eyes held more meaning than previously and they felt like the air was a bit heavier than normal.

"So, who is this_ you_?" someone asked suddenly and Felicity jumped with a screech.

Roy was looking at them, hands inside his pockets and a mischievous look on his face that they knew all too well. It was obvious the younger man heard everything they said and was enjoying just too much having that kind of information. Not that Felicity's rambles weren't a regular thing, but hearing Oliver's own mistake come bit him in the ass was something worth prizing.

Felicity was looking between Roy and Oliver, her cheeks red and her heart still hammering, when Thea appeared suddenly beside Roy.

"What is going on?" she asked, scrunching her brows at their demeanor.

"Felicity was talking about having…" Roy started saying, but the older woman jumped into the fire and struck him with a glass full of wine.

"Oh Roy, I'm so sorry! I must have slipped… those shoes…" Felicity said, patting his chest, while the dark stains colored his white blouse. It was kind of creepy, Roy thought, how she could use such an innocent expression, while sending daggers through her eyes.

"Roy, you have to go clean this or it will stain!" Thea said, pushing him towards the bathroom.

She saw her boyfriend walk away and then rounded on her brother and Felicity.

"Soooo, what were you talking about?" Thea asked, with a smirk. She was no clueless girl, she could pick Felicity's less than stellar "make-up" fall from a mile away.

"Nothing!" the two of them said, and Thea sniggered under her breath.

"Well, I hope _"nothing"_ won't make my boyfriend's shirt get ruined or I will be very mad at you!" Thea said, before walking away, leaving the two uncomfortable partners side by side.

"So…" Felicity started.

"So… I think I saw Dig calling me… I'm going to see what he wants…" Oliver said, walking away before Felicity could say anything else.

"Yup, not awkward at all…" Felicity whispered to herself.

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of craziness…" Roy said and Felicity rounded on him, ready to punch his chest.

"Stop doing that!" she begged and he smirked. He was wearing a now damp shirt, hidden behind his dark jacket.

"So, are you a bit surer about where you stand with your baby making plans?" he asked and Felicity growled at him under her breath.

"Seriously, that was scary. You sounded just like him…" Roy replied meaningfully and Felicity smirked.

"If I were you I would be careful, Roy Harper… I'm a computer expert, I can maneuver my way around a good editing program, and if you don't want you face correctly glued to a ballerina body and properly released through the Glades and especially Verdant, I would mind my tongue… Remember, I'm a bitch with wifi…" Felicity said, with a smirk on her face.

Roy observed her, while Felicity turned around and walked towards a table filled with food.

_Maybe their sweet girl wasn't all that sweet_… Roy thought, wondering what evils she was able of creating if she ever walked into the dark side…

* * *

**What can I say, Bitch with wifi had to make an appearance...**


	6. Daddy CEO

_**Daddy CEO**_

_**(because Stephen is such a sweet dad!)**_

* * *

If someone said to Roy Harper, just an year ago, that he would find Oliver Queen playing peek a boo with a baby, and the said baby would be giggling and not cowering in fear, he would say that person was drunk or high or drunking high…

However, when he entered the Queen Mansion's Library and found the said Oliver Queen with a baby over his work desk, and some kind of cloth in his hands, he stopped in his tracks to watch the show.

Oliver was still in his CEO attire, his tie askew and his sleeves rolled up, nonetheless, his expression couldn't be farther away from the formal and cool businessman he was during the work hours.

"One more?" Oliver asked, laughingly and the baby squealed when the man dropped the cloth over his face and quickly took it away.

Oliver repeated the gesture two more times, always followed by a delighted squeal from the baby.

The baby's giggle increased when Oliver started kissing him all over his face and body, tickling his small feet.

"If the Arrow's enemies could see him right now…" Roy commented, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his body draped against the door frame.

"If the Arrow's enemies saw him right now, it would be the last thing they saw…" Oliver said, his tone changing quickly from endearing to a cruel and vindictive one.

The baby noticed the change and small whimpers fell from his lips.

"Thomas…" Oliver whispered, kissing him on the cheek and pulling him against his broad chest. "Sorry, daddy didn't mean to scare you…" he cooed against the baby's right ear and Thomas nuzzled against his neck, his eyelids dropping slowly, but steadily.

Oliver sent a "_be quiet or I will kill you_" kind of look toward Roy and the younger man showed his palms in a pacifying gesture. It was not a good idea to cross Oliver when Thomas was around...

Oliver took Thomas to a small crib right beside his leather couch and after making sure he was tucked and sound asleep, he closed the distance between Roy and his previous position.

"What happened?" Oliver asked, no longer a playful expression over his face.

"Nothing… I was just wondering if Felicity was home…" Roy said and Oliver observed the boy with shrewd eyes.

"And why do you need Felicity?" Oliver replied and noticed Roy's nervous movements, his eyes jumping everywhere but his face and the unclenching of his hands.

"Nothing…" a female voice said from behind them. "That concerns an overprotective CEO…"

Felicity walked swiftly towards them, her arms full with shopping bags from the nearest baby shop.

"Did you get that special formula I read about?" Oliver asked, trying to peak into the bags.

"I'm the one that carried him for nine months, never forget that Oliver Queen! I will never forget something you talked about 32 times!" Felicity said, with a reproachful look on her face.

That was another thing Roy never thought he would see. Not the Felicity-is-done-with-Oliver-shit part, since that was a bit of an everyday thing, and in 9 out of 10 it ended in a gross making out, but _The Oliver Queen, part CEO part masked hero,_ asking about baby formula that _he_ read about… that was another thing altogether… at least, before Thomas made his appearance in this world…

Roy stood there, in the middle of the room, watching Felicity tiptoe towards the crib and get that mesmerized look he learned to associate with baby gazing. Beside her, Oliver held her waist, watching their son. It looked like their spar just a moment ago didn't even exist in the first place.

When Felicity finally remembered about Roy's presence, she kissed Oliver softly on the corner of his mouth and walked towards Roy.

"So, Roy, should we go to my study?" Felicity asked, already dragging the younger man by his elbow.

Oliver saw the two of them walk away and was ready to follow them and eavesdrop, when Thomas whimpered.

"Already on your mother's side…" Oliver whispered while his son's squirming increased.

* * *

"Are you sure he won't come after us?" Roy asked and Felicity nodded.

"Thomas is like a clock, I can almost guess when he will need a diaper change…" the woman replied with a mischievous look on her face.

"Seriously? You are betting my life, or prolonging it, at least, through your son's poop?" Roy asked, his shocked face making Felicity laugh.

"Believe me, Tommy is going to be a momma's boy forever… Now, let's talk about rings…"


	7. A lesson in love and death

_**A lesson in love and death**_

* * *

"Daddy, what means _dead_?" a small, cute voice asked suddenly from beside the almost asleep man's head.

Oliver jumped from his draped position on the couch to look at his son with surprised and shocked eyes.

"Why are you asking that, Tommy?" Oliver replied, rising from the couch and gesturing for his son to sit beside him.

"Mommy is crying on the bedroom… she was talking on the phone… she was saying someone was dead…" Tommy said, his eyes fearful. "I want to tell you… I don't want mommy to cry…" Tommy said, his own blue eyes filling with tears.

Oliver hissed under his breath and ran all the way towards his bedroom. His heart was hammering inside his chest. What was happening? Someone was dying? Or dead? Or was it Felicity? Oliver remembered she went to her doctor a week ago… _oh no, please don´t!_

_Oh gosh, please, let it not be Felicity!_

And he ran even quicker, his long legs taking him closer and closer to his wife, _but not quick enough…_

When he opened the bedroom door, he found Felicity quickly cleaning her eyes.

Without saying anything, he closed the distance between them and enveloped her body under his arms. She cried against his chest and he kissed her hair repeatedly. And it was only when her sobs stopped that he made her sit and created a sudden distance between them, which was quickly erased, when she chose his lap to sit, instead of the bed.

"Felicity…" Oliver whispered, combing her hair with his fingers and watching her pale face smile sadly.

"It was a neighbor of my mother…" she whispered and she didn't have to say anything else for Oliver to understand what was going on.

He felt his heart implode with a sudden care and deep love for this remarkable woman, if that was even possible, after all their years together. He knew how her mother was a bad influence, how she ignored her daughter, and blamed the young girl for her husband's departure, how Felicity had to fend for herself, how she had to grow quicker than it should have been… and now, she was crying for that woman, because, no matter what happened, she was still Felicity and she still cared for a mother that never cared for her… the little girl with brown hair still lived inside the heart of the strong blonde woman, and still dreamed of a past that could happen, where her mother could be a confident, a friend… and not what she was…

"Felicity…" Oliver whispered.

"Do you know that she didn't want me in there? The funeral happened last week… but the neighbor was cleaning the house and found some papers about me… and thought about calling…" Felicity said, with a hint of bitterness that Oliver hated to hear, it was mixed with sadness and regret and pain and it broke Oliver's heart.

When Oliver was still thinking about what to say in face of that information, a small pair of feet echoed beside the door and the shadow of a child appeared in the doorway.

Thomas entered his parents' room, his elephant toy tucked under his arm and his expression worried. Oliver noticed his trembling lip and gestured for him to come closer. Tommy didn't wait for a second invitation and ran into his parents' waiting arms.

Felicity squeezed him against her chest, while Oliver hugged them both.

"I love you, mommy!" Tommy said against her collarbone and Felicity sobbed softly.

"I love you so much, Thomas… so much…" she whispered, feeling the soft skin of her son warming her, in more ways than just physically.

"I don't want to see you cry…" he whispered and Felicity's eyes clouded with guilt.

"You won't see it again, baby. Mommy just hurt herself with something, but now everything is good…" she said, eyeing her son deeply, in a way that always left Oliver awed, it was like they didn't need words to convey their feelings, like they could talk only with their eyes.

"Now, why won't we let mommy rest for a bit, okay?" Oliver asked and Tommy looked at him, doubtfully. He didn't want to let his mommy alone, but his daddy's eyes held a message that he clearly understood.

When the two men tucked Felicity into the bed and Tommy let his plush toy right beside her head and after kissing her repeatedly, they walked out, hand in hand.

"Daddy, I don't know what dead means, but I don't like it!" Tommy said with such deep animosity that Oliver stopped to see his son's expression. "It made mommy cry…" the young boy said, walking away with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Oliver ran behind him, his hand hovering over his son's head.

"Don't worry, we will protect mommy from it…" Oliver said, his voice wavering in fear that someday his son might know the pain of losing a parent sooner than they would wish for.

Oliver guided his son towards the kitchen to ask Raisa for Felicity's favorites.


	8. Not the best way to tell

_**Not the best way to tell**_

* * *

Felicity was acting weird.

Oliver noticed it, Diggle noticed it, Sara noticed it, for God's sake, even Roy noticed it.

However, when Oliver tried to persuade her into telling what was going on, he only received a wave of the hand, while she typed with the other one on her computer.

He even tried to seduce her, buying her favorite wine and favorite seafood. But everything he got was her wrinkled nose and a shake of her head, followed by her quick steps towards their bedroom.

"Oliver, I don't think you should be doing this…" Felicity said, while the team perused over her screen, where a map of a Russian city could be seen.

"You have nothing to worry. It's just a down of being a Bratva captain, I have to keep my place in their ranks secure. You know how much it helped us during the years…" Oliver said, while Diggle nodded his accordance.

"I don't like it! Maybe we should get Sara and Roy here and have more backup…" Felicity proposed and Oliver sighed.

"Felicity, you are the one that always come up with plans for our cover stories… Do you have any that could explain why I would send my private jet to transport Sara and Roy to Russia without anyone, especially the board of QC, knowing? We are here to check on QC Russian branch, don't forget that!" Oliver said, noticing the way Felicity's eyes diverted from his when he looked full on at her.

"_What are you hiding?_" Oliver asked and Felicity opened her mouth to answer, when he cut her. "And don't say nothing. I think we have passed that a long time ago…"

Felicity worried her lower lip and kept her mouth shut. Oliver roared and walked way, his loud voice echoing inside their hotel room.

"Fine, if you want to be like that, be like that!" he said, before closing the door with a loud bang.

"Wow, don't you think it was a bit too much?" Dig said, when Oliver found him outside the room, probably ready to enter it.

"Yes, but I wanted to make her tell me the truth… Something is going on, all of us tried different tactics to make her talk…" Oliver said, pinching his nose. Felicity's silence was starting to get on his nerves. Not because he didn't want her to have a personal part of her, just for her, but because he was worried she might be sick or something like that and keeping that a secret so she could protect them and keep them from worrying.

Oliver's phone started ringing suddenly and when he looked down, Anatoly's number appeared. He looked back towards the door and sighed.

"I will talk to her later…" he said, putting his earpiece inside its proper place.

Diggle walked behind him, making sure he would have an escape plan and some kind of support in case something went wrong.

Inside the hotel room, Felicity could follow Oliver's GPS tracker in her screens, her heart squeezing painfully when remembering their fight. She wanted to tell him when he accused her of not trusting him, she really did, but she didn't want to make him lose his focus, since Felicity knew Oliver wouldn't back out from his mission.

However, when Oliver kept pushing his luck, ignoring Diggle's recommendations and Felicity's warnings, she really put in balance telling him her secret, maybe it was a low blow, but she was sure it would make him realize just how reckless he was acting.

"Shit!" she hear him growl after a violent metal sound echoed inside her ears.

"Oliver, stand back! They have heavy machinery! It's a trap!" she yelled, not worrying about what their neighbors might think.

"Felicity, I can end this!" Oliver replied, breathing deeply. She could imagine his bended frame, his hands over his knees and the sweat running through his body.

"No! Oliver, I don't want our son to be an orphan!" she said and suddenly, all the noise that Oliver and Dig's voices created disappeared. The two men were eerily quiet and Felicity felt like the silence was oppressing her chest.

"Dig…" she heard Oliver whisper simply and the other man answered immediately.

"Copy that…"

Felicity sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers. She knew what was coming, she knew there was a storm brewing behind Oliver's silence and she really didn't want to see that happen, but now was too late, now she had to face the music, or rather, Oliver's angry face.

Her reticence in telling him had nothing to do with her worry that he might not want a child, but rather, how it would change his view of his work as the vigilante. Would he stop doing that and blame her? She didn't believe that, but she knew that he would change his action, knowing that there was a small being dependent of him, waiting for his safe return, at home, but at the same time, weak against the dangers of the world.

And when the suite door opened and Oliver walked inside with his normal clothes on and without Diggle, she knew they had to have a talk right now, and not keep it away until they got home.

Oliver stopped in front of her and sat in the leather couch, eyeing her with blank eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he whispered and Felicity fidgeted with her fingers.

"I'm sorry… I didn't want to put another burden over your shoulders while you were out there… I know how you worry about me, about the team, how you want to protect us… and since we got together and married how you fight harder to come back to me… and I was scared… I was scared you felt too pressured to come back home that you might lose some kind of focus, or that you could fight harder because you wanted to protect the baby… I don't know… my mind was all over the place… I wanted to tell you so hard… but then something always come up… and… I don't know…" Felicity rambled, without looking him in the eyes.

"Hey…" he whispered, his hand cradling her jaw and pulling her face up to eye him. "What you said… it just shows you know me better than anyone… You are right, I will fight harder to come back to you, the both of you, but at the same time, I will make sure I can protect you from all the evil in this world… I love you, Felicity… There's no choice to make when I think you might be in danger, I will always choose you, and now, our child as well… But I can promise you that I will fight harder than ever to come back to you safe and sound… to tuck the baby with you every night… or tell him stories through the earpiece… I will keep you safe!" Oliver vowed, his thumb stroking her jaw and lips and Felicity felt her breathing pattern rise, while her blood ran quicker through her veins.

"Oliver…" she whispered lustily and saw with a mischievous smile his eyes darken.

* * *

When Oliver rose his head from her naked chest, hours later, Felicity whimpered with dissatisfaction. She tried to pull him against her body once more, but he smiled at her, and rose nonetheless, grabbing his phone and crouching beside the bed where she was laying.

"What are you…?" she started asking, when she saw her husband turning the phone's camera in her belly's direction. "Are you really going to…?" she enquired, the sound of the camera giving her her answer.

"I will never lose the track of time again…" Oliver said, putting the phone away and slipping into bed behind her.

Felicity didn't have to ask what he meant. She knew those five years away from Starling City still plagued Oliver, the way he lost Thea's grow, the way he changed, the way Christmas and all the other festivities he used to enjoy with his family lost their meaning while out there… He was a man running after time, he was a man that still tried to gain back those five years he lost, but if there was one thing those years gave him and he would never give up was the sense that he had to fight for what was important, he had to fight for the really meaningful things, just like an IT blonde girl that saw right through his lies, but that accepted his dark side nonetheless. And now, he would fight for this baby as well, to protect him and see him grow, teaching him all he could, with Felicity right beside him, berating him when he tried to spoil their child.

"I love you…" Oliver said, and for once, Felicity was happy he was not saying that to her, but to her belly, where their unborn child rest, protected from the world.


	9. Four times

**_Four times_**

* * *

The first time Oliver saw Felicity with a baby in her arms it was so sudden, so unexpected, that he had to backtrack in his quick stride towards his office on the upper floors.

Felicity was cooing at a baby nestled against her chest, happily talking with a co-worker, someone Oliver knew vaguely from the IT- department, from the times he wondered in there, looking for Felicity. The other woman was definitely the baby's mother, sharing the same reddish curly hair and freckles. However, the sight of Felicity with a baby did something to his insides that he couldn't completely understand. It was like they were buzzing with electricity and, at the same time, disappeared suddenly, like when someone was on a rollercoaster.

When his EA noticed his presence, she smiled at him, grabbing the baby's hand and waving it. Those gestures did nothing to calm his ranging heart, which made Oliver confused and mad at himself. He turned around without saying a word and walked away rigidly, leaving behind a very surprised Felicity.

* * *

The second time Oliver saw Felicity with a baby was a bit more expected, since QC was having a "Bring the family to work" day. It was the anniversary of the company and his PR thought it would be a good boost of confidence to his workers. Oliver nodded absently, too worried at the time with Felicity's broken arm, to really notice what implications it might bring to him.

"Look, Oliver!" Felicity gushed, noticing a baby with a very distinctive green onesie with a green hood and a smiling arrow in his chest. She ran towards the proud father, laughing at his choice of attire… _If only the poor man really knew who was his hero…_

Felicity took the baby that the man was giving her and rocked her when she started whimpering. She turned to show the small child to Oliver so suddenly he had no chance to run. Sending him a look, **_the look_**, Felicity obliged him to walk forward. He really didn't want to approach a beaming Felicity holding a baby…

"Isn't she gorgeous?" she asked and Oliver sighed.

"Yes, definitely…" he said, without Felicity perceiving that he was looking at her and not the baby.

"Mr. Queen, would you like to hold her?" the father asked and Oliver felt like all the air inside his lungs suddenly disappeared. He was ready to say no, when Felicity subtly stepped on his foot.

"Sure…" he said, bending a little so Felicity could give him the baby. Now, that was really not an image he wanted to have in his mind. Felicity, in all her happiness, reaching for him, giving him a beaming baby and hovering like she was the mother and he was the father. Nonetheless, it was too late, and now, it felt like that frame of Felicity's arms touching his, the two of them holding the baby, was imprinted on his mind.

Later, while perusing the photos taken during the day, he zoomed in one of them, the one with the two of them and the baby, their soft smiles while watching the child.

Oliver saved the picture in his private folder.

* * *

When Diggle and Lyla's son was born, Felicity was the first one to reach them, her heels clicking on the hospital floor and her dress flying around her in a cloud of red.

When Oliver reached the room, after walking slower behind the bubbly blonde, Felicity was already with the baby in her arms. Lyla and Diggle started laughing when Oliver appeared at the door and if he wasn't so mesmerized by Felicity he would have asked what was so funny.

"Oh, I want one!" Felicity gushed, her eyes jumping towards Oliver who felt like his tongue just disappeared from his mouth. "I mean, not now… but someday, you know… when I marry someone… or I don't have to marry, it's not really a necessary thing… we could be an unmarried couple… not we as in you and I, you know, just in general… we as an unidentified entity…" Felicity babbled, while the baby gurgled in her arms and Diggle and Lyla kept laughing to each other.

_Seriously, what was so funny?_

* * *

The next time he saw Felicity with a baby in her arms none of the previous thoughts invaded his mind.

His only reaction was a bright smile and a soft kiss on her lips, while the two of them beamed at their sleeping son.

And now, he understood what was so funny all those years ago…


End file.
